Preventing school-based arrest and recidivism through prearrest diversion: Outcomes of the Philadelphia police school diversion program.

Abstract

Objectives: Created to combat the school-to-prison pipeline, the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program offers voluntary community-based services to eligible youth accused of minor school-based offeses in lieu of arrest. This study evaluated program effectiveness in accomplishing goals related to reductions in school-based arrests, serious behavioral incidents, and recidivism. Hypotheses: We expected the annual number of school-based arrests in Philadelphia schools to decrease over the program's first 5 years and predicted that the annual number of serious behavioral incidents would not increase. Further, we expected that diverted youth-compared to youth arrested in schools the year before Diversion Program implementation-would have significantly lower rates of recidivism arrests in the 2 years following their school-based incidents. Method: Using a quasi-experimental design, we examined data from 2,302 public school students (67.0% male; 76.1% Black; age range: 10-22 years) who were either diverted from arrest through the Diversion Program or arrested in Philadelphia schools in the year prior to Diversion Program implementation. We compared rate of recidivism arrest, number of arrests, and time to arrest between diverted and arrested youth. We also used district-wide descriptive statistics to examine 5year trends in school-based arrests and serious behavioral incidents. Results: Since program implementation, the annual number of school-based arrests in Philadelphia has declined by 84% and the number of serious behavioral incidents has declined by 34%. Diverted youth demonstrated less recidivism than arrested youth in the 2 years following their initial incident; however, after propensity score matching, we no longer observed significant differences. Conclusions: Findings indicate that a prearrest diversion program can safely reduce school-based arrests and suggest a need for future research regarding the role of demographic and incident-related characteristics in recidivism outcomes.Jennifer Cox served as Action Editor.

Promising Services for Justice-Involved Youth: A Scoping Review with Implications for the Los Angeles County Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act

“…Finally, a quasi-experimental study sought to evaluate Philadelphia's effort to decrease the number of school-based arrested youth. Although the rate of school-based arrest decreased by 84 percent following the program's implementation, youth who were arrested prior to the program had similar recidivism rates compared with the program youth who, instead of being arrested at school, had a social worker visit their home and offer voluntary resources (Goldstein et al, 2021).…”

Long-term arrest and school outcomes of the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program.

“…Fader et al (2015) evaluated a prearrest diversion program implemented in Utica, NY schools and identified a reduced number of school-based arrests in the 2 years after program implementation, though they did not see significant improvement in school-related outcomes among diverted students in that 2-year time frame. Additionally, short- and moderate-term outcome evaluations of a prearrest diversion program in Philadelphia—known as the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program—indicated that the program was meeting its primary goal of reducing school-based arrests in the city without compromising school safety and produced promising findings related to reductions in number of diverted youths’ subsequent arrests and experiences of school discipline (Goldstein, Kreimer, et al, 2021; Goldstein, NeMoyer, et al, 2021).…”

“…Additionally, given the chance that many young people experience their first contact with law enforcement while at school, targeting youth at risk for school-based arrest may further enhance the protective function of such diversion efforts. Perhaps as a result, jurisdictions across the country have begun implementing school-based diversion initiatives; however, only two such programs appear to have undergone empirical evaluation (Fader et al, 2015; Goldstein, Kreimer, et al, 2021; Goldstein, NeMoyer, et al, 2021).…”

Police in schools: The complicated impact on students, school environments, and the juvenile courts

“…In a related effort, Philadelphia City's police department developed the Philadelphia Police School Diversion Program in collaboration with the City's school district, child‐care agencies, and the Department of Human Services to divert students, ages 10 and older without prior juvenile court adjudications, who commit misdemeanor offenses on school grounds to this diversion alternative. Results from the first five years of the project found an 84 percent decrease in school‐based arrests and a 34 percent decrease in serious behavioral incidents (Goldstein, Kreimer, Guo, Le, Cole, NeMoyer, Burke et al, 2021).…”